The Fall of Saigon...The End

[Eddies66]

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

My problem is not the military itself, at least below the "Joint Chiefs" and the Pentagon. Quite the opposite. My problem is with the government, including the "Joint Chiefs".


If the military were used judiciously, as intended by the Founding Fathers, and as the military should be used, as in, once the military is engaged, it practices almost completely unrestricted warfare, and has extremely few limits with regards to rules of engagement, then either Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq do not see the U.S. military, or those wars are over much more quickly, with much higher enemy casualties, and with absolute victory.


Men go into combat, and if they survive, they are forever altered. Regardless of the outcome, regardless of how the battle is prosecuted, those in it are NEVER the same. As such, we owe those we send into those battles. We owe them the ability and the requisite support to win. We owe them absolute victory. And we owe them the very best unending support for the rest of their lives for the price that they pay for the service that they give. Either give them ALL of that, or don't ever send them to battle, or simply discharge them, and send them home to do something else with their lives.

I have dedicated the last 20 years of my life as a Service Officer for the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans and as Nevada Veterans Advocate insuring those lives that have been changed are treated and compensated for their injuries. Since the PACT Act was approved on 1 Jan 2023, I am averaging 10 to 12 cases a week. The VA has received over 2 million claims since approval. You might want to take a look at what the Congressional Budget Office proposed to the House. Cutting compensation to veterans and spouses, terminating 81,000 VA employees, which in turn would close VA facilities. It is not “thank for your service” it’s “** for your service”.

When you talk about the differences between a war, a police action or minor conflict. I can speak only about Marines and how they react to being on the pointy end of the spear, we care about each other and know our mission is to “close with and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver”. If the Commandant of the Marine Corps told me to shoot my grandmother, she could standby because there would be rounds coming down range. Enjoy the freedoms that these young men and women have provided dedicating their lives in maintaining it.